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Constitution Hill emerges unscathed from Kempton in his final trial ahead of the Cheltenham Festival… as the gelding attempts to claim Nicky Henderson’s ninth success in the Champion Hurdle next month.
- Constitution Hill is 4-11 favorite for the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham
- Nicky Henderson-trained gelding put to the test at Kempton
- The horse won the supreme novice hurdle by 22 lengths at last year’s Festival.
Constitution Hill has successfully passed one of its last big tests before the Cheltenham Festival with a training session at Kempton Racecourse.
The gelding trained by Nicky Henderson, who is the 4-11 favorite for the Champion Hurdle with Paddy Powerit was the main attraction as Henderson put some of his main Cheltenham Festival contenders to the test on the London track.
A trip to Kempton has become an annual event for Henderson as a way to put the finishing touches on his big guns before the main show jumping competition.
The most powerful weapon is Constitution Hill, who won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by 22 lengths at last year’s Festival, who will try to provide his trainer with a ninth Champion Hurdle success.
Ridden by Nico de Boinville, Constitution Hill galloped with his stablemates Captain Morgs (Paul O’Brien) and Ahorsewithnoname (Daryl Jacob).
Constitution Hill is 4-11 favorite for the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival next month
Trainer Nicky Henderson was pleased with what he saw of his horse at Kempton Racecourse
Henderson admitted that his biggest problem was finding horses good enough to make Constitution Hill do significant work, but he was delighted with what he saw.
The coach said: ‘Everything went according to plan. It was hard to do because, as I’ve been saying all week, I’ve been looking in the country for a mile that I was going to get to jump to the middle of the backstretch!
‘To be fair, the other two guys have done a great job there, because they’ve just done their thing and Nico has done his thing. They were two pieces of work that happened at the same time and they did a good job since they only cared about themselves.
‘I haven’t had one before that has given me the problem of how to work it. We always used to put Sprinter Sacre and Simonsig together because when you have two really good horses.
‘Constitution Hill is in shape and will have another job at home.’
Constitution Hill carries the colors of owner Michael Buckley, who was on hand to view his gelding.
He said: ‘I’m looking forward to the Champion Hurdle and it will be fun. I hope the horse puts on a good show. As we stand here today, he is potentially the best horse I’ve ever owned and may already be. However, he has to do it on the big day.
‘My nerves are chattering and have been for weeks! When you get horses that have odds like that, the expectation is that they’ve already won the race.
Nico de Boinville rode the gelding to the success of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at last year’s Festival.
“I feel like it’s a pretty sad fact of life that if he only wins by a length or two, everyone’s going to be disappointed.” I’ll be delighted, of course, but he’s done a lot of flashy things and I guess people expect a show.
“We need a bit of luck, we need to get there in good shape and then we need Nico to have a bit of luck running and get him through without a problem and then hopefully we’ll win.”
Henderson’s team at Kempton also included Marie’s Rock (Nico de Boinville) and Epatante (Aidan Coleman). They have multiple Cheltenham options, but Henderson has hinted that he may keep them apart as well as Constitution Hill.
That would mean Epatante would opt for the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle. That one was won by Marie’s Rock last year, but at the time she was able to contest the Paddy Power Permanence Hurdle.